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Escape from the Planet of the Apes
Primary Cast: * Roddy McDowall as Cornelius * Kim Hunter as Zira * Bradford Dillman as Dr Lewis Dixon * Natalie Trundy as Dr Stephanie 'Stevie' Branton * Eric Braeden as Dr Otto Hasslein * William Windom as The President * Sal Mineo as Dr Milo * Albert Salmi as E-1 * Jason Evers as E-2 * John Randolph as Chairman of the President's Committee of Inquiry * Harry Lauter as General Winthrop * M. Emmet Walsh as Greg, General Winthrop's Aide * Peter Forster as Cardinal * William Woodson as Naval Officer * Gene Whittington as Marine Captain * Roy E. Glenn Sr as Lawyer * Norman Burton as Army Officer * Tom Lowell as Orderly * Donald Elson as Curator * Ricardo Montalban as Armando * Bill Bonds as TV Newscaster * Army Archerd as Referee * James Bacon as General Faulkner * John Alderman as Bill, Marine Corporal * Joe Gray as Bodyguard * Stephen (Steve) Roberts as General Brody * James B. Sikking as Officer in Radio Control Room * Ed Holliday as Hercules * Raylene Holliday as Brunhilde * Janos Prohaska as Gorilla in Zoo, Heloise * Marshall Stuart as Arthur, Orderly at Zoo * Alan Baxter as Military Officer * James W. Gavin as Helicopter Pilot * Robert Nichols as Reporter * Walker Edmiston ... Talking Baby Chimp (voice) * Paul Bradley ... (unconfirmed) * Charlton Heston ... Taylor (archival footage) * Robert Gunner ... Landon (archival footage) Synopsis Escape from the Planets of Apes is the second sequel to the original Planet of the Apes and its premise is to reverse the plot of of that movie. The film begins over two years after Taylor and Brent had disappeared in space, with a spaceship floating in the ocean and military personnel scrambling to rescue those on board. Three astronauts emerge from the wreckage, but when they remove their helmets, military personnel respond with shock, for the three are really apes. The space travelers are whisked away and placed in a cage within a zoo. Cornelius and Zira, the simian ape couple from the first two ape films, fled from their doomed planet (just before the events in Beneath the Planet of the Apes) in the same spaceship used by Taylor in the first film, and traveled back through the same space/time portal and landed on late 20th Century Earth where they are received with fascination and fear from the people they meet. As military personnel and civilians struggle to understand how apes managed to commandeer Taylor's spaceship, Cornelius, Zira, and Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo) attempt to understand how they came to Earth’s past. The reason given for such leaps in scientific capability is Dr Milo, a genius ahead of his time who somehow rescued and repaired Taylor's craft from the Forbidden Zone. While the three chimps are held captive in the zoo, Milo is quickly dispatched by a depressed gorilla, leaving the couple to grapple with humanity's inherent fear of the unknown. The middle part of the film showcases the couple's fifteen minutes of fame, in which the chimps are treated much like instant celebrities. Underneath all the posh parties, extravagant gifts, and barrage of speaking engagements works Dr Otto Hasslein (Eric Braeden), the US president's (William Windom) science advisor. Using every trick he can muster, Hasslein discovers that the chimps come from the future, that they used humans as experimental lab-rats, and that one day the Earth will be destroyed by militant gorillas. Cornelius and Zira have extensive knowledge about man's history, and describe how a plague killed all the dogs and cats which lead to the enslavement of all the apes as pets, who eventually revolted against man. Far more disturbing to Hasslein is that Zira is pregnant. Hasslein's solution is quite simple: destroy the talking chimps and their offspring and thus prevent this future. Helping Cornelius and Zira as much as they can are Dr Lewis Dixon (Bradford Dillman) and Dr Stephanie Branton (Natalie Trundy). When Cornelius accidentally kills an orderly, the couple, with the help of Lewis and Stevie, escapes from a military compound and seeks solace with kind circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalban). Unfortunately, Hasslein is tenacious, and like King Herod in his search for baby Christ, he uses police and military units to search every zoo, pet shop, and circus for the talking apes. In the end, Cornelius and Zira are hunted down and brutally murdered, as is their baby. The coda, however, reveals that the talking apes' child is alive and well, living under the watchful eye of the animal-loving Armando.Overview of the Movie by Octavio Ramos Jr. Cast And Crew Supporting Cast: * Unknown ... The Congressman * Unknown ... The Senator * Unknown ... Army Chief of Staff * Unknown ... Navy Chief of Staff * Unknown ... Army Officer on beach * Jerry Brutsche ... Stunts Locations: Filming Locations: * Los Angeles Harbor, San Pedro, California * Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California * South of San Clemente, California, USA Items: Production Crew * Producer ... Arthur P. Jacobs * Associate Producer ... Frank Capra Jr. * Unit Production Manager ... Francisco Day * Script ... Paul Dehn * Director ... Don Taylor * Assistant Director ... Joseph 'Pepi' Lenzi, Joseph E. Rickards * Director of Photography ... Joseph Biroc * Editor ... Marion Rothman * Music ... Jerry Goldsmith * Orchestrations ... Arthur Morton * Sound ... Dean Vernon, Theodore Soderberg * Make Up ... Dan Striepeke, Jack Barron * Hair ... Mary Babcock * Creative Makeup Design ... John Chambers * Special Photographic Effects ... L.B. Abbott, Howard A. Anderson Co. * Art Directors ... Jack Martin Smith, William Creber * Set Decorators ... Walter M. Scott, Stuart A. Reiss * Art Illustrator ... Bill Sully Notes * The movie was novelized by Jerry Pournelle. The book is notable for having added names and background details on many of the minor characters who featured on-screen or in the shooting script, or even adding new characters to the story. * In Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Caesar, MacDonald and Virgil locate the tape labelled'' 'Proceedings of the Presidential Commission on Alien Visitors, 1973' -'' placing the events of Escape in that year. Inconsistencies * In Planet of the Apes, only Dr Zaius knows about the history of humanity - at one point in the film Taylor calls him "the keeper of the terrible secret." In Escape, Cornelius and Zira have extensive knowledge about man's history. It's concievable that after hearing Zaius' admission that he knew of man's past, they learned more from him; or that when Zaius handed over responsability to the couple as he left with Ursus, that they were given custodianship of the secret history. * Zaius seemed to believe only that man had once been intelligent on the planet, not that Taylor had come from another world - he privately questioned Taylor about where his tribe of intelligent humans lived. In addition, both Taylor and Brent discovered that the planet of the apes was the Earth of their future, but neither saw Cornelius or Zira after their discoveries - so therefore the apes could not know they were from Earth's future. This information is conveniently attributed to the super-knowledgable Dr Milo. Behind the Scenes The working title in the early stages of production was 'The Secret of the Planet of the Apes'. Besides Arthur P. Jacobs, Roddy McDowall, and Kim Hunter, the other major veterans of the first films still on hand for the third film were art director William Creber and make-up genius John Chambers. Creber's job was simpler for this film; for in the first, he had to dream up an entire ape city, in the second he had to create a mutated New York city underground. For Escape he merely had to cope with present day Los Angeles. Make-up man Chambers' job was easier too as he had only three simians to deal with. John, who again teamed up with Dan Striepeke, Fox's chief make-up man, had won an oscar for his original ape make-up. One of only two Oscars ever given to make-up men in the Acadamy's 43-year history. Image:Escape scene1.jpg Image:Escape scene2.jpg Image:Escape scene3.jpg Image:Escape scene7.jpg Image:Escape scene13.jpg|Planet of the Apes (UK) issue #95'Planet of the Apes' UK Issue #95 at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive Image:Escape scene5.jpg Image:Escape scene8.jpg Image:Escape scene4.jpg Image:Escape scene6.jpg Image:Escape scene9.jpg Image:Escape scene10.jpg Image:Escape scene11.jpg Image:Escape scene14.jpg Image:Escape scene12.jpg poster3.jpg|Movie Poster poster3(french).jpg|French Movie Poster poster3(swedish).jpg|Swedish Movie Poster poland escape 1991.jpg|Polish Movie Poster (1991) There has been much fan speculation over the years about the 'missing scene' from the opening of Escape - a scene outlined in the script in which the Ape-onauts witness the destruction of their planet and begin to travel through time. On the basis of the evidence it seems likely this scene was in fact filmed, but cut from the final edit. The evidence being that an elaborate ship interior was constructed specifically for this scene (it wasn't used again in the movie, but the the interiors were reused for the opening episode of the TV series a few years later, with alterations because the filming was taking place from the front of the ship rather than from the interior). A few photos also seem to show the apes being filmed in the cockpit, but they have their helmets on. Information given on the Blu-Ray release (2008) suggested that the scene was shot but that the producers prefered to hold the element of surprise until the apes removed their helmets on the beach. If this scene (and others: see entries for General Brody, Hercules & Brunhilde) was filmed, there is good reason to suppose it may be released eventually, given the recent extended releases of Battle for the Planet of the Apes and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. The Marvel Comics' adaptation of Escape was based on scripts rather than the finished film, and so included the scene. In fact, it inspired one of the best cover illustrations of the Marvel series (by Ken Barr). In the final screenplay (reprinted in the comic adaptation), the dialogue ran: Astronaut 1 (Cornelius): "We made it." Astronaut 2 (Milo): "So far. But one thing is for certain. Whoever wins the war, there'll be no place on Earth for us." Astronaut 3 (Zira): "Where are we going?" Astronaut 2: "Probably to our death. But just possibly -- The fools... they've finally destroyed themselves." Astronaut 1: "My God, the Earth is no more." Astronaut 3: "And we've escaped." Astronaut 2: "We have, if we survive the shock wave." A scene in the first draft screenplay (as The Secret of the Planet of the Apes) hinted at the accelerated evolution of the primitive apes already occuring before the appearance of the ape-onauts. This was presumably intended to tie-in to the history outlined by Cornelius and prepare the way for the advanced ape society to develop in further sequels. Why, therefore, it was dropped from the final screenplay is not clear. In the scene, Armando shows Lewis and Stevie around his circus. Inside the big-top, he has three cages (there were only two in the movie): Armando: (showing first cage) "Here we have put the bad-tempered and troublesome Nero. He gets headaches and, like his namesake... ideas. His brain is growing faster than his cranium." Stevie: "It's endemic among young chimps--" Lewis: "--and incurable." Armando: (sadly) "I know. He will have to leave." Nero slaps his aching head and pounds the floor of the cage. Armando: (showing second cage) "Here we have bundled the rest of the troupe, including Heloise, Abelard and -- Salome, your god-daughter." (When the police later arrive to look for Zira and Cornelius, the script notes that Nero is also no longer in his cage.) 'The Secret of the Planet of the Apes' at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Scripts Archive One further change, though perhaps a minor one, between the initial script and the final screenplay, dealt with the deaths of Zira and Cornelius. The original sequence of events had Hasslein shoot the baby chimp dead, followed by Cornelius shooting Hasslein, then throwing the gun into the sea, grief-striken over the death of 'his' baby and also over having killed two humans. As the police bloodhounds reach the ship, Zira tries to run down the gangplank to escape but is savagely mauled by the dogs. The police shoot her 'to put her out of her misery'. Cornelius, now suicidal, pretends to still be armed and walks toward the police with a hand in his pocket. He is shot first by E-1, then, fatally, by police. *The film-makers shot the opening scenes of the apes 'splashdown' in their renovated space capsule off the Malibu Coast.[http://pota.goatley.com/comics/potauk043_part3.pdf Finding the Future on the Fox Ranch!], by Sam Maronie - 'Planet of the Apes' UK #43 (16 August 1975) *Accustomed as Hollywood residents were to watching movie crews at work on outdoor locations, the sight of an ape couple selecting fashions at Georgio's Dress Shop and Dick Carroll's Store for Men in the heart of Los Angeles was sure to cause problems. Surprised motorists were so rattled by the sight of an anthropoid duo prominading about the LA streets, that a several-car collision took place blocking traffic for many blocks. *The crew took advantage of a day that the Musuem of Natural History was closed to complete some additional sequences. *Aside from the Los Angeles Zoo and other environs, portions of the Signal Hill oil fields were utilized for the exciting apehunt. *For the traveling circus of Armando, the wagons and animal cages were located on a golf course, just across the street from Twentieth Century-Fox Studios. *The final showdown between the fugitive apes and Dr Hasslein's police took place among the rusting derelicts in LA Harbor. Arthur Jacobs was aware of disappointing returns from Escape when interviewed in December 1971: "I've tried to analyze why did not do as well as 'Beneath', and I think there are three reasons. First, there were some who were disappointed in the second picture. Secondly, it's really not so much science fiction as the others were, and I think that was a letdown for some kids, even though it received better reviews and was I think a better film. It was an intimate picture, not a spectacle. Third, I think Fox took the attitude it was pre-sold, and therefore not spending too much money in selling it. However, it will gross about $10 million from its budget of less than $2 million. The fourth picture has great size and big spectacle, more than any of the others." 'Cinefantastique Planet of the Apes Issue' (1972) at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive Trivia * In Planet of the Apes, as Taylor and the primitive humans are held in Zira's laboratory, a scene in writer Michael Wilson's script showed them being given building blocks in order to reach a banana hung from the ceiling of their cells. The scene was not included in the film, but the concept was recycled by Paul Dehn for Escape from the Planet of the Apes.Final Shooting Script at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive Quotes Cornelius: Please do not use the word "monkey"! It is offensive to us. As an archaeologist, I had access to history scrolls which were kept secret from the masses, and I suspect that the weapon which destroyed Earth was man's own invention. I do know this: one of the reasons for man's original downfall was your peculiar habit of murdering one another! Man destroys man. Apes do not destroy apes! Milo: We have returned to Earth nearly 2,000 years before its destruction. And there's another reason for us to keep silent: our human captors will not be edified to learn that one day their world will crack like an egg and burn to a cinder because of an ape war of aggression. Apes, at this instance in time, cannot yet talk. For the moment, we should follow their example. Zira: Of course the female knows! We came from your future. Cornelius: Where we come from, apes talk. Humans are dumb. Related Articles * Escape from the Planet of the Apes (Novelization) * Escape from the Planet of the Apes (Power Records) * Escape from the Planet of the Apes (Marvel Comic Book) External Links * Escape from the Planet of the Apes at Wikipedia * Escape from the Planet of the Apes at IMDB * Escape from the Planet of the Apes review * Behind the Scenes at potacollective.com * Ship Interior at Spaceship: Icarus References ---- ---- 03